Abby’s wide-ranging insolvency and litigation practice focuses on representation of secured and unsecured creditors in bankruptcy cases and other insolvency proceedings in California and nationwide. She routinely represents parties in litigation related to insolvency and distressed debt in state and federal court, as well as purchasers and sellers of distressed assets and bankruptcy trustees and receivers. In addition, Abby has successfully represented numerous chapter 11 debtors through plan confirmation. Outside of the insolvency arena, Abby has significant judgment enforcement experience. Abby’s clients value her practical, business-oriented approach to resolving legal issues and her ability to coordinate and manage proceedings pending in multiple courts to achieve positive litigation outcomes.
Experience
- Represented real estate investors in obtaining judgment of dismissal, prior to discovery, in $50 million fraudulent transfer case brought by liquidating trustee of bankrupt offshore fund.
- Represents indenture trustees and master trustees in connection with receivership and bankruptcy proceedings in California and Florida to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.
- Represents competitor and creditor of debtor in large utility bankruptcy.
- Represents unsecured creditor of wholesale pharmacy in successful pre-bankruptcy litigation to recover $9 million debt and in bankruptcy case. Obtained conversion of the case, on an emergency basis, shortly after petition date to staunch ongoing theft and fraud by former management.
- Represents real estate investor in enforcement of $20 million judgment against former business associate.
- Represented numerous secured creditors in litigation to enforce promissory notes in state and federal court.
- Represented unsecured creditors in confirming creditor chapter 11 plan in contested bankruptcy case of failed real estate developer.
- Represented secured creditor in purchase of substantially all assets of bankrupt developer of membranes for industrial separation and purification processes, and in settlement with committee and aggressive undersecured junior creditors – with sale and settlement consummated within sixty days after petition date.
- Represented purchaser of bankrupt cellulosic ethanol plant and cogeneration facility from Abengoa Bioenergy and Biomass of Kansas, LLC for $48.5 million.
- Represents chapter 11 trustee in sale of water utility and numerous real estate assets.
- Represented supervisory board of liquidating trust in obtaining dismissal of claims for equitable subordination and breach of fiduciary duty in At Home bankruptcy.
- Represented luxury boutique hotel in selling assets and confirming chapter 11 plan during heavily contested bankruptcy case, including preventing confirmation of secured creditor’s competing plan, allowing equity holders to receive significant distribution.
- Represented chapter 11 debtor in objecting to secured creditor’s claim, ultimately reducing the claim by nearly $2 million.
- Represented residential and commercial real estate developers in confirmation of chapter 11 plans.
Case Studies
Case Study
Mintz’s Bankruptcy & Restructuring team achieved a significant victory by obtaining complete dismissal (at the pleading stages) of a lawsuit brought against our clients by a liquidating entity, which sought to recover at least $50 million in damages based on allegedly fraudulent transfers of real estate during and after a bankruptcy case.
viewpoints
Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 Amends Bankruptcy CodePart 3: Congress Gives Suppliers and Landlords a Shiny New Arrow in their Quiver to Challenge Preference Actions
February 2, 2021 | Blog | By Joseph Dunn, Abigail O'Brient
For bankruptcy litigators – or any business which has been frustrated to receive a demand letter after one of its customers filed bankruptcy – one particular amendment stands out in the CARES ACT bill. The Act amended Section 547 of the Bankruptcy Code to provide suppliers and landlords with an additional potential challenge to actions brought to “claw back” payments made by a debtor in the 90 days preceding bankruptcy.
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Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 Amends Bankruptcy CodePart 2: Amendments Affecting Landlords
January 29, 2021 | Blog | By Andrew B. Levin, Abigail O'Brient
The CARES Act assists debtors by amending Section 365(d)(3) of the Bankruptcy Code to allow, at the bankruptcy court’s discretion, small business debtors experiencing pandemic-related financial hardship an extra 60 days, in addition to the initial 60-day grace period, to make payments under unexpired leases of non-residential real property following the bankruptcy filing date.
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Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 Amends Bankruptcy CodePart 1: Amendments Clarifying Debtors’ Rights to Other Pandemic Relief
January 26, 2021 | Blog | By Andrew B. Levin, Abigail O'Brient
The CARES Act benefits both debtors and creditors by temporarily modifying several sections of the Bankruptcy Code, which may be of particular interest to creditors.
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News & Press
Mintz Promotes Eleven Attorneys to Member
May 10, 2019
Mintz Levin is pleased to announce that nine attorneys have been named San Diego Super Lawyers for 2018 while two others have been named San Diego Rising Stars. The annual publication identifies lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.
Events & Speaking
Panelist
Dec
9
2022
How to Take and Defend Depositions
American Bankruptcy Institute Winter Leadership Conference
La Quinta, California
Speaker
May
16
2021
Gidget Goes Bankrupt: The First 120 Days of a Chapter 11 Case
California Bankruptcy Forum
Virtual Event
Apr
3
2020
Do Defaults Matter in the Era of COVID-19?
The State of Creditor Rights in Unprecedented Times
View Webinar Recording
Speaker
Speaker
Oct
3
2019
Mintz and ACC SoCal CLE Lunch Program
How to Limit Risk and Strategically Navigate a Financial Distress Situation
Mello (a Division of LoanDepot), 6561 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, CA 92615
Speaker
Oct
2
2019
Mintz & ACC SoCal CLE Lunch Program
How to Limit Risk and Strategically Navigate a Financial Distress Situation
Verizon (Formerly Yahoo), 11995 W. Bluff Creek Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90094
Panelist
Sep
18
2019
Your Contract Counterparty is Insolvent....Now What?!?
Mintz, One Financial Center, Boston, MA
Speaker
Speaker
Read less
May
21
2016
Judges Roundtable Breakfast: Ch-Ch-Ch Changes – Turn and Face the ABI Proposals
California Bankruptcy Forum
Hyatt Regency, Indian Wells, CA
Publications
Contributor, ABI’s Quick Evidence Handbook (2d ed.), American Bankruptcy Institute (April 2018)
Co-author, The Kodak Bankruptcy: The Valuation and Sale of IP Assets, The Bankruptcy Strategist (April 2012)
Co-author, Pushing the Envelope: Third Party Releases Under Chapter 11 Plans, American Bankruptcy Institute Winter Leadership Conference (November 2011)
Editor, Bankruptcy & Restructuring, Mintz
Read lessRecognition & Awards
- Best Lawyers: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law (2023)
- Visionary for Los Angeles Times Banking and Finance Magazine: Trends, Updates and Visionaries 2021-2022
- Los Angeles Business Journal: Women of Influence - Attorneys (2021)
- Los Angeles Times Business of Law: Finalist Visionaries Leadership Award (2021)
- Los Angeles Business Journal: Top Women Attorneys (2020)
- Los Angeles Business Journal: Leaders in Law - Firm Attorney Nominees (2019); Finalist - Bankruptcy (2020-2021)
- Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Star: Bankruptcy (2019)
- Southern California Super Lawyers Top Women Attorneys Rising Star: Bankruptcy (2019)
- San Diego Super Lawyers Rising Star: Bankruptcy (2018)
- One of 40 attorneys selected to participate in the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges' Next Generation Program (2016)
